Teenage Dream 30
by J.W.Melmoth
Summary: How many times can I rewrite the Dalton staircase scene? Infinite times! This time, Kurt meets Sebastian instead of Blaine, and gets put on the spot right away…


"Excuse me? I'm new here," Kurt started, taking off his sunglasses, which had seemed like a good idea at the time but made him feel silly inside the building, even if the staircase was bright from the marble reflecting the natural light. A far cry from the dank stairs with the flickering fluorescent tube lights at McKinley.

"So?" the tall boy in front of him replied, looking down on his phone. He was swiping through pictures, and Kurt thought it was quite the inappropriate app to be browsing in public.

"I'd...like to know where the Warblers rehearse," Kurt said, straightening his posture to make himself seem taller. He was here now, might as well get on with his mission.

The boy looked up from his phone and Kurt looked into the most startling green eyes he had ever seen. "Why?" the boy asked. He looked him over in a way that made Kurt a little nervous.

"Uhm. I want to...join?" Kurt suggested. Trying to give his ruse a bit more weight, he raised his chin and slipped into his Glee club performance confidence. "Yes, I'd like to audition."

"Okay," the boy said. "Then sing something."

Kurt blinked a few times. "Here?" he asked, looking at the uniformed boys that were rushing past them. The high ceilings would probably have pretty good acoustics, but...

"Yeah. And if you're any good, I'll take you to them," the boy said, crossing his arms over his chest and smirking a little. A dare, then.

_Fine_, Kurt thought. _Challenge accepted._ He knew exactly how to get out of a situation like this- it wasn't the first time this had happened. Back at McKinley, every now and then the jocks would get bored and randomly accost a musical theatre kid for sports. The way to get out of that situation, for Kurt, was always to start singing the most girly song he could think of, and the jocks would _no-homo _out of there faster than bugs scattered when you lifted a rock, lest anyone would think they caught the gay. So, that was what he did now.

"_The whispers in the morning…_" he started in a soft, breathy voice, "_of lovers sleeping tight - are rolling by like thunder now - as I look in your eyes…_"

He made a point of looking directly into the boy's eyes, daring him to make him go on.

The boy curved an eyebrow, but did nothing to stop him.

"_I hold on to your whole body,_" Kurt continued, breathing in sharply, "_and feel each move you make...your voice is warm and tender - a love that I could not forsake!_" His voice rose in volume and pitch and deep inside he was beginning to panic a little. Why wasn't it working?

"_'Cause I'm your lady-_"

"Okay, that's enough," the boy interrupted him. "Come on." He turned and walked down the stairs, then stopped and turned around to see if Kurt was following.

Kurt let out a small huff of breath and snapped his jaw shut. He quickly stepped down. "Where are we going?" he asked.

"To the Warblers," the boy said. "That's what you wanted, right?" He was walking with brisk strides, away from the throng of boys who seemed to be heading to the common room. Kurt hurried to keep up with him.

They entered a long hallway lined with doors. They were numbered, and didn't look like classrooms. Kurt frowned, but followed. They reached door number 9. Someone - and Kurt suspected he knew who- had scratched a 6 into the wood in front of the brass number. _Very mature. _

The boy opened the door and stepped aside to let Kurt in. Against his better judgement, Kurt stepped inside.

It was a narrow dorm room with two beds, two desks, and two wardrobes. One bed was neatly made, the accompanying desk tidy and organised. The other half of the room was a mess. The sheets of the bed were rumpled and a book lay face down between the sheets, next to an opened Pringles can. The desk was littered with things; binders with paper sticking out, a stack of French novels, a laptop, too many pens, and at least four Lima Bean to-go cups. The wardrobe door was ajar and Lacrosse gear was half hanging out. The boy walked up to it and casually kicked the wardrobe door closed before turning to Kurt.

"This is not where the Warblers rehearse," Kurt stated.

The boy snorted. "No, it isn't," he agreed.

"Then why did you take me here?" Kurt asked. Before he came to Dalton, he had considered what might happen if he was discovered spying, and had decided a beating was probably most likely. He had imagined a scenario in which a gang of uniformed Karofskies and Azimios kicked him to the floor and then made him polish their shoes. This was just one guy, and although he was slightly taller than Kurt, he felt fairly confident they were an even match.

"I wanted to hear the rest of the song in private," the boy said, startling Kurt. He sat down on the messy bed and looked expectantly.

Kurt took a moment to consider what this was going to be. He wasn't born yesterday. Maybe the reason the boy had whisked Kurt off the staircase mid-song was a lot less _no-homo_ than Kurt had anticipated. Kurt's heart rose to his throat. He took a deep breath, and picked the song back up.

"_'Cause I'm your lady - and you are my man,_" he sang, "_whenever you reach for me, I'll do all that I can…_"

The boy's green eyes were fixed on him. A small, interested smile played on his lips.

"_We're heading for something,_" Kurt continued, "_somewhere I've never been-_" He could not stop the blush creeping on to his cheeks at the boy's expression.

"_Sometimes I am frightened but I'm ready to learn - of the power of love…_"

The last tones ran out, and much to Kurt's surprise, the boy clapped. Feeling a little awkward and flustered, Kurt inclined his head a little somewhere in the middle of a bow and a curtsey.

"What's your name?" the boy asked.

"Kurt Hummel."

"Tell me some more about yourself," the boy demanded.

Kurt frowned. "Why should I? I don't even know your name."

"Fair enough," the boy agreed. "My name is Sebastian Smythe. I'm a junior, I'm on the Lacrosse team...what else? Oh yeah. I'm captain of the Warblers."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "And do you usually…_audition_ new Warblers in your bedroom?"

Sebastian snorted again. It irritated Kurt a little. "Not _usually_, no. But you seemed...unusual."

"Huh," Kurt scoffed.

"You don't really go here, do you?" Sebastian asked.

Kurt shook his head.

"So what are you doing here then?"

Kurt shrugged.

"Wanted to see how the 1% lived?" Sebastian mocked a little.

"Who says I'm not in the 1%?" Kurt bit back.

Sebastian waved his hand dismissively at the outfit Kurt had spent hours putting together. "You care too much about your clothes. Tells me it means you can't afford new ones," he explained casually, draping one leg over the other.

"It could just mean I take care of my things and I'm not a slob," Kurt replied, making a point of looking at Sebastian's part of the room.

"Sure," Sebastian agreed, and his eyes glittered with mirth. "But your reaction just confirmed it."

Kurt sighed. "Okay. Whatever. I go to McKinley. I'm in the Glee club, and the guys there dared me to go and spy on the Warblers, probably hoping you'd catch me and beat me up."

He raised his chin and waited for Sebastian to laugh.

He didn't.

"Why would they want that?" he asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

Kurt pulled up his shoulders. "To give the jocks a day off to save their strength for the homecoming game? I don't presume to understand how their tiny brains work."

Sebastian seemed to consider that for a moment. "Sit down, Kurt," he said quietly, and the authority in his voice was so gentle Kurt found himself taking a seat next to him on the bed.

"Are you okay?" Sebastian asked.

"Sure, I'm just f-" Kurt started on auto-pilot, then stopped. Who was he fooling, and what did it even matter to tell this guy? He'd probably never see him again anyway.

"You say I am unusual," he started over. "Well, people at my school think so, too. Unusual enough to throw into the dumpster on a daily basis, slushy my outfits, call me names, steal my stuff, trip me up on the staircase, throw me against the lockers - ban me from the boys' showers, lock me in the girls' bathroom-" The devastated look on Sebastian's face made him stop.

"Yeah," Kurt agreed, "in case you ever wondered about the 99%."

"That's awful," Sebastian said.

"C'est la vie," Kurt said, shrugging.

"What do the teachers do about it?" Sebastian asked.

"Nothing. Boys will be boys, you know?"

"You should fight back," Sebastian said, his voice a little rough. His green eyes were stormy.

Kurt scoffed. "What, like confront them?"

"No, not that way," Sebastian quickly said. "That would be dangerous. I meant, fight back within your means. Report them, then use your phone to _film_ your teachers ignoring it. Gather evidence. Then sue the school. My dad's a state attorney. We can help you out."

"And what good would that do?" Kurt asked, cocking his head.

"Well, they'd probably settle somewhere between expelling the bullies and paying you some kind of restitution- and then you could afford to go to school here," Sebastian said, a little more brightly. He clearly assumed he had just solved World Hunger.

"What makes you think I want to come here?"

"Well, you're already in the Warblers, for one thing," Sebastian said, smiling. "And Dalton Academy has a zero-tolerance policy on bullying. You'd be safe to concentrate on your education. And, uh, I think you might find some...unusual friends here."

Kurt's earlier jitters suddenly returned.

Sebastian leaned in a little, and his hand came up as if to cup the side of Kurt's face. He stopped just before they touched, and smiled shyly. He busied his hand brushing invisible lint off Kurt's jacket as if that was what he had intended to do all along.

"Think about it," he whispered.

"Okay," Kurt agreed, swallowing. He leaned forward a little too, hoping to cross the distance between them- as someone slammed open the door of the dorm.

"There you are! We're all waiting for you, Smythe. No time for romancing, get up, we have Regionals to prepare for!"

Another tall, uniformed and very handsome brown-skinned boy stood in the doorway.

Sebastian got up and offered Kurt his hand. "Come on. I'll take you to see the Warblers. For real this time."

* * *

**Notes:** I have a lot of WIPs already, so I don't intend to follow this up with anything. If you feel inspired to continue, feel free! :D The referenced song is 'The Power of Love' by Celine Dion.


End file.
